Well in honour of Grandparents Day on Sept. 9, I go back down memory lane to a paper I wrote in first year college where I compare “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman” novel to my beloved Pop who passed away last year.
Grandparents Day began in the USA in 1973 before being implemented in Canada in 1995 and is held the Sunday after Labor Day and is meant to recognize the importance of grandparents in every family.
The novel is a classic example of random, organized thoughts, to the point where it was frustrating to get a grasp on one idea and moving on to the next.
The opinions in this story reminded me of my Pop where all the small stories came together at the end.
More often than not, a lot of the family would wonder where he came from with all these stories but in a crowd full of puzzled people, it was comical to see how he wrapped them all into one conclusion, just like the book. There is knowledge and wisdom passed down too.
It was Shandy that also referred to his past through narratives and linked them to present events on a timeline. The information in Volume 1 of the novel was unorganized and not in order. But Shandy wrapped all the concepts together in Volume 2 and really refreshed the readers’ interest.
This was evident in my grandfather,where he shared his passion for antique cars, growing up in Newfoundland, random people that he came across in his life time and other subjects that came to mine. Somehow they all came together.
Shandy’s narrative was anything from hobby horses to a marriage contract and Dr. Slop but all came around to make sense as one story.
I saw a lot of similarities in writing this paper about Tristram and my Pop because of how they put their thoughts together into a flight of ideas and combined them into a tale.
My Pop was a character and I miss him a lot.
Happy Grandparents Day!